Miles

Not for firewall flex. For strut tower movement. Anything attached to the strut tower (such as a device to arrest master cylinder movement) will also move.

Strut tower braces to the firewall might do the trick. I noticed that going from a 240Z booster to a 280Z booster reduced firewall flex somewhat.

ditto Superduner ^ ^ ^ I am very happy with my brake setup: Toyota solid front, 240SX rear, 1 inch Wilwood MC, 280Z booster and Axxis Ultra brake pads (good cold bite). The brakes feel like factory and require very little pedal pressure which was not the case with a stock 240Z booster - 1 inch MC combination. With the stock 240Z booster the pedal was very stiff. Brakes work well in traffic and mountain driving.

I am the Mythbuster you seek.................. I own two 1972 240Zs with SBC 350 and Camaro T5 manual transmissions. A 280zx booster will not fit on these cars because I tried it. If someone has installed a 280ZX booster on a 240Z configured like mine I would like to know about it and how it was accomplished. The picture I posted above of the 280Z booster in a 240Z with manual transmission is my car. Note that the 280Z booster fills the available space between the throttle pivot and the clutch MC.

See post #17 above: The larger 280ZX booster fits automatic 240Z cars because there is no clutch MC in the way.

Other overlooked brake pad information is the FMSI code: Friction Materials Standards Institute (FMSI) is an association that assigns numbers to different pad shapes that are used as a guideline for pad manufacturers to refer to, and bring a common numbering system to the brake pad aftermarket. Every pad manufacturer will either use the FMSI number in their numbering system or have a readily available interchange to cross-reference their part number to the FMSI number. FMSI provides a standardized part numbering system for brake pad configuration for each manufacturer. For example: 1979 Toyota 4x4 pickup front brake pad FMSI code is D137 1989 Nissan 240SX rear brake pad code is FMSI D272 A Google search for FMSI pad D137 will list the pads shown in the attached picture. The FMSI number is in the lower right corner and is cross referenced to the other codes shown in the diagram. The FMSI code is handy to use when searching for brake pads

I changed the link above from Summit to Holley. Also here is the Holley Earl's page. https://www.holley.com/brands/earls/ Or you can plug the Earls p/n 165056ERL into Google

Edit: 2:43pm 12/18 16 using a different link If you mean adapt to 5/16 fuel line then this will work: https://www.holley.com/products/plumbing_an_fittings_and_hose/adapters/special_purpose_adapters/parts/165056ERL

Information about friction codes: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=570124 Brake bias: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/white-paper---brake-bias-and-performance-why-brake-balance-matters

Move to California.

The constraint for larger boosters on the 240Z is the space between the throttle pivot bracket and the clutch slave on manual transmissions cars. The larger 280ZX booster fits automatic 240Z cars because there is no clutch MC in the way. I used the 8.5 inch 280Z booster. See picture for fitment. The 280Z booster bolt pattern differs slightly from the 240Z which requires re-drilling the mounting holes in the firewall. On SBC V8 with T5 transmission equipped 240Zs you can to get a little more clearance between the throttle pivot bracket and the clutch slave by using Wilwood clutch MC instead of the Tilton clutch MC. The Wilwood clutch MC is much more compact.

Originally I installed a 280ZX 15/16 MC with a 240z booster. The pedal was heavy and stiff with this combo. When the 15/16 MC failed I decided to try a 280Z booster with a Wilwood 1 inch MC. The 280Z booster made the pedal feel more normal and less stiff. Actually the 1/2" travel is the slack adjustment in the pedal, but the pedal feedback is immediate. Note: the booster was a tight fit between the throttle pivot and the Tilton clutch MC. When I replaced my clutch last year I used a Wilwood clutch MC which is more compact and just clears the booster. I would have preferred a 10" booster, but there isn't enough space. I'll post a picture of the booster later. swap info: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/49295-260z280z-booster-in-a-240z-it-can-be-done/

Seattlejester I have considered trying a more aggressive pad with the 240SX rear calipers, but avoided doing that because of how road conditions change in daily driving. Also, my experience with performance pads is that they feel like blocks of wood until they heat up - again the need for cold bite in traffic. I spent several months researching brake pads with a higher "cold coefficient of friction", but found none for a 240SX caliper. The Bimmer/Vett people have more friction code choices EE, FF, GG etc pads. See atch picture for DOT friction codes. With my current set up Toyota solid - 240SX, 1 inch Wilwood MC and 280Z booster pedal travel is about 1/2" to engage brakes with a light/normal feel on the pedal. I had the280Z booster rebuilt by a company in Sacramento that rebuilds boosters and master cylinders.

Grannyknot I have a test area that I marked off in 100' increments in the 70s. It is where I bed in pads and "test" my brake work. When I bought my two 240Zs in 2001 I replaced all of the brake components with OEM parts and drove the cars for several years before trying different brake setups. My biggest complaint with the stock brakes was fading in stop and go traffic and having to adjust the rear drums. Fading was never an issue with any of the Toyota - 240SX set ups I installed. None of the above setups hauled the car down faster then the stock brakes or would throw you into the straps. The advantage of these swaps, from my experience, is I have seen no brake fade and they have been low maintenance once dialed in. For track use several members report good results using more aggressive pads in the rear in conjunction with PV adjustments during the race. For daily driving the above brake swaps are ok. The problem with all of these brake modifications is there is no one place that records comparative brake performance data for popular Z car brake swaps. Developing comparative data has been brought up many times here and other Z websites, but has not happened. So you are left with trusting what others say or doing your own tests. Consequently, it is not unusual to find in old posts members going through several brake swaps until they get the performance they seek.

Download a copy of the Factory Service Manual (FSM) for a 280ZX and you will know why the fuel pump isn't running. You will also learn where all the wires go.

Check your battery.

Over the last 15 years I have done the following brake mods on two daily driver SBC 72 240Zs: Stock front - Maxima rear, 15/16 MC, stock booster: no better than stock and eliminated drum maintenance issues Toyota solid - stock drums, 15/16 MC, stock booster : no better than stock Toyota vented -stock drums, 15/16 MC, stock booster : no better than stock Toyota Vented - 240SX, 15/16 MC, stock booster: no better than stock Toyota solid - Maxima, 15/16 MC, stock booster: worse than stock Toyota solid - 240SX, 1 inch MC, 280Z booster: 280Z booster eliminated stiffness caused by the 1 in. MC. Bias = .66 front .34 rear. Average street brakes. Currently on my 240Z since 2009. I also experimented with different pads and found that all of the "street performance pads" were worthless. For street we want a pad with good cold bite, but every "street performance pad" I tried (Hawk, Porterfield etc) required some heat before they had a decent bite - not what I wanted in rush hour traffic. The only reason I never went with the big Wilwood kits is that I would have to buy new larger wheels and the Wilwood kits did not have a parking brake that I liked.

Many of these Toyota/280ZX or Toyota/240SX or Toyota/Maxima installations have been done with no after market PV and the stock PV gutted out and still experienced front brake bias (typically .60 front - .40 rear or worse). The bias issue derives from unbalanced front-rear brake torque. If you search the brake forum there will be many people who tried mixing front - rear brake pads to achieve better front - rear bias with marginal results (some of the racers do report using aggressive pads on the rear plus PV adjustments worked ok). Read all of the brake FAQs and spend some time in the Brake forum looking at these so called brake upgrades.

Note brake bias problems here: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/113398-toyota-truck-calipers-ventilated-brake-rotors-mm-rear-disc-brakes/

I have had exhaust header leaks that sound just like that. But then I have also had a wrist pin pull out of the piston and make the same sound. Hope it is just the former.

Recommend that you buy this book: Basic Auto Electricity by StreetWorks Rod and Custom Products http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/basic-auto-electricity-book http://www.aplusrodandkustom.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=1913/category_id=117/mode=prod/prd1913.htm You can buy it on-line or at your local speed shop.

Best advice at this point is that you will need to gather together schematics and the Factory Service Manuals for the 280ZX and your 280Z and start from scratch. Study the documents until you understand the function of each wire. Make a wire list showing color and function and check it against what you have installed on your car. Most likely you are within a wire or two in making the swap work. Even with the best intentions, the authors of these on-line "How to Swap" tutorials often leave out details or make mistakes that prove frustrating to people following the instructions given. Trust but verify. There are many other Z car websites besides HybridZ that detail this swap. Check those out too.

Have you emailed Bumble Zee who wrote the swap guide?

You do realize that with automotive wiring the entire car is the ground (neg). So if you put the red (+) meter probe on the plus battery terminal and touch any metal surface on the car with the black (-) probe the meter will show 12v. With a few exceptions each device on the car such as lights or the starter motor have one power wire which when energized electrons pass through the device to ground because the device is bolted to the body (-) thereby completing the circuit. Checking voltage from the battery to various parts of the engine doesn't tell you anything. Body/Chassis Ground: Run a black battery cable from the battery to a substantial bolt on the engine and from that same bolt run another black battery cable to the frame/body of the car and bolt it to the frame/body. This will give a ground path from the battery to the engine to the frame/body. Now when you touch the plus terminal on the battery with the red (+) meter probe and the black (-) probe to any spot on the body you will get 12v. NOTE: all ground cables must be the same gauge (diameter) as the red battery cable that connects the battery to the starter. An undersized cable will melt.